Member Review

Cover Image: How to Love a Jamaican

How to Love a Jamaican

Pub Date:

Review by

Erin K, Reviewer

Arthurs has put together a great collection of short stories centered around characters living in Jamaica, as well as Jamaican immigrants in the US. I felt like she was able to authentically capture a person of color's experiences from a wide range of perspectives (everything from a young Jamaican girl to a Jamaican man in his 60's living in the US). Arthurs was able to include important details (such as types of Jamaican food her characters crave) to create a well-rounded and culturally accurate depiction of island life. My fave story was probably the last one in the collection, which is about a young, female pop star going back to Jamaica after finding massive success in the US. It's pretty obvious it's loosely inspired on Rihanna (who was born in Barbados), but it definitely held my attention the most because of her ability to truly crawl behind the scenes of someone you've seen in music videos and in magazines. I'll be really curious to see where Arthurs' writing goes from here. Most of her stories left me wanting more, so I'd certainly be interested in reading a full-length novel from her in the future. So many of her stylistic strengths and her unique perspective were represented in these short stories, so obviously this format works well for her too!
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